Cosmosis

Absent

Someone was nearby. Close to... here?

I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten here. I didn't really feel like I was anywhere. How odd. I couldn’t really see anything, but nonetheless, I knew there was someone nearby.

“Hey, Caleb.”

Daniel?

“Yeah, you’re asleep right now. This is a dream.” Daniel said. It sounded like his regular voice, not the mental emanation of his thoughts-turned-speech.

Something was wrong though… I could tell.

“You’re not all here…” I muttered.

Daniel gave a bark of laughter. “Hah, you have no idea! You’re stuck with enough of me.” He said.

It seemed like he might have said something more, but I couldn’t quite focus.

“Yeah, your brain is pretty pooped right now. You are asleep, so you might be a bit incoherent, and you might wake up any moment, so I’ve gotta make this quick because I don’t know when I’ll manage to resurface. Still, I’m impressed. I don’t know how you did it, but you pulled off the flashbang on your own.”

“Why are you talking to me in a dream?” I asked.

“Well, I’m mostly improvising my way through how your mind works, so I’m not completely sure myself. It’s a complicated thing, you know?”

I had some idea. I’d learned my mind was a bit more capable than I would have ever expected, and not in comforting way.

I found the notebook Daniel had started just floating in front of me. I reached up and grabbed it. It was a physical thing. Why was that odd? … oh that’s right . Usually I had to imagine my hand wouldn’t just pass through the illusion.

“Yeah, the notebook and other stuff is actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” Daniel said. “It’s important.”

I sat forward in my seat, interested.

Huh. I hadn’t noticed I’d been sitting before.

“I’m learning a bit more about how these powers work, and how I got in your head.”

“I’m all ears.” I said.

“Good, because I’m serious, I don’t know how much time we’ve got. You could wake up mid-sentence and I might get cut off. Every time I fizzle out, I think I end up in a lower layer of your mind. You’re definitely not conscious of it, but it still works. It takes a little while to float back to the surface.”

“I thought you didn’t remember the time you were absent for.”

“I don’t.” Daniel said, a grim edge in his voice. “I doubt I’ll remember this when I resurface, which is why I’m trying to tell you now.”

He looked me dead in the eyes.

“Caleb, the notebook? I don’t know how, but it’s not the first thing that was made in your head.” Daniel warned, “I didn’t realize it before, but the reason I didn’t notice anything odd about the notebook the first time is because it was something your head was already suited for. Your mind—subconscious, who knows—already made something for you, but I have no idea how it works.”

My awareness flickered a bit, and I recognized how much Daniel was keeping my attention on him. We appeared to be sitting in plain spotlight, the only illuminated part of a black void. The notebook, the map I’d copied, Daniel’s timer, the different things we’d imagined into my brain that still worked for some reason, they floated around us. But there was something else…

Where?

I tried to turn behind me, but Daniel and the light made sure to follow me.

“Don’t rush.” Daniel said, “It’s not behind you. The thing… well, I don’t know how else to show you.”

Daniel held up a small mirror, and instead of seeing my face, I saw—analysis/self-recognition/confusion/energy—what was I looking at? It wasn’t even shaped like me. It didn’t even have a ‘shape’. It was like some abstract essence. But those words didn’t describe it at all. Daniel yanked the mirror away. I hadn’t understood what I’d seen.

“Stay calm!” He said, gesturing one arm toward me. “Easy… easy…”

“I am calm.” I said. Huh. I wasn’t even exaggerating.

Despite not understanding what I’d seen, I didn’t feel the urge to panic. Because… this was a dream. Of course I might not look like myself in a dream. “You sound scared.”

“No, I don’t.” Daniel protested. “Actually, who am I kidding, I’m in your head. You know I’m scared. I was scared because I thought the aliens might have done something to you and gotten this thing in your head somehow.”

The thing in the mirror? How could the aliens have—

“But then I looked at it some more, and I can’t really put it into words, but I… remembered it.” Daniel continued. “From back on the ship. I mean… aghh… alright, look at it again, but this time try to really focus on what part is you and what part is ‘it’.”

Daniel held up the mirror again. And this time I recognized a bit more of myself. I looked normal, but I didn’t just see the two-dimensional image of myself in the mirror. I could see all the way around somehow, from every side all at once.

“Daniel, how did you—” I started.

“It’s an imaginary mirror. It doesn’t have to work exactly like regular ones, it just needs to show you ‘yourself ’.”

That seemed about as good of an explanation as any, considering I was dreaming.

But I didn’t just see me. Now that I realized I could notice myself, I saw what Daniel was talking about. From my head and spine, glossy black shards etched with razor thin red lines jutted out chaotically.

I glanced at Daniel to gauge his reaction, but he indicated for me to keep watching the mirror.

When I looked again the black and red shards were gone with no trace, and in their place large golden bubbles and welts welled up from all over my body. But they too didn’t last. Every second some new abstract form or exotic shape seemed to well up from inside my body, poke its way up above the skin and then vanish.

“I think it’s your abilities.” Daniel said. “That radar you’ve got; the way you can sense the empowered aliens? I think this is what’s letting you do it.”

“This is utterly terrifying and fascinating all at once, but what has you so urgent about it? We already knew something supremely weird was going on in my mind.” I was willing to hear out dream-Daniel—he was probably the same as the Daniel I saw when I was awake. But this was a dream, and that didn’t mean everything suddenly became significant.

“Well, when you and I made the firework/beta-flashbang, it drained me. Knocked me out and slipped me deep down into the crevices of your mind.”

“So did breaking out of the cell.” I recalled.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t just because I was actually running out of energy like we thought.”

“’Just’?” I asked.

“I fizzle out when your brain needs to prioritize other critical processes, but it’s not just any process.” he said. “It’s specifically that new process.” Daniel said, indicating the shifting shapes in the mirror. “The one that lets you sense the empowered aliens… and probably more.”

“What makes you think there’s more to it?” I said.

“The watch, the notebook. We don’t actually need to know the precise physics of how the originals work right? We just need to understand the end result.”

“Yeah… We could make the clock an analog one, or even an hourglass. It’s just a trick for my mind to tell time. As long as I get the concept, it doesn’t matter what it looks like.”

“Not just that,” Daniel said, “Look again, do you understand the end result of whatever that shit is?”

I looked again in the mirror. It was constantly shifting color and shapes, but I still got the impression it wasn’t just random.

“No.” I said, “I have no clue what it’s for.”

“And yet, it’s still giving you information that you can make sense of. Your brain must have made this before we got to the otters—when I was still alive. And whatever it came up with, it’s so crazy incomprehensible that it’s giving you alien radar, by accident .”

“Your theory is that I was so insane, that I imagined up something that can detect aliens? Before I’d ever met any?” I scoffed.

“Weirder things—well I’m not actually sure if weirder things have actually happened, this one kinda takes the cake. I don’t think I’m even close to correct here, but none of that is my point. This new part of your mind, specifically, is what’s suspending me when things get too chaotic. But every time I get shut down, a little less of me comes back.”

“What?”

“I’m falling apart Caleb, but I think—”

Everything turned upside down and Daniel’s voice got far away.

“Ah fuck, you just woke up.”

·····

A jolt went through my body, and I awoke with a start.

I checked the clock in my head. I’d gotten roughly five hours of sleep. Every single corner of my body ached. My shoulder wound was properly wrapped in bandages instead of socks, but also eerily pain-free. Despite having a knife go into it last night, I still had practically the whole range of motion. More fresh bandages wrapped over the slashes and bruises Stalker had given me. I vaguely remembered Nemuleki prodding me to keep me awake immediately after I’d fallen asleep the first time.

It had given me a tube of ‘no-germ’ paste. Or maybe it had been ‘germ-gone’ paste, my grasp of the alien language withstanding, the alkaline scent made it clear it was some kind of chemical disinfectant.

It had stung my wounds worse than salt would have, but I’d been so tired that I’d fallen back asleep immediately afterward anyway.

And boy had I slept. I was definitely a few REM cycles behind still, but I felt so much better anyway. Actually… I felt so good, it looped right back around to concerning. After the yesterday I had, I should not feel this refreshed.

But when I got to my feet to look around, it was still dark. Maybe yesterday was still today? I had no idea how long days were on this planet. I’d been put in a blacked-out greenhouse immediately after landing, so I couldn’t even guess based on the day before.

And what the hell had that dream been? The possibility remained that it was simply a very odd dream with no bearing on events… yeah, no chance of that.

I felt like there had been more to it that I didn’t remember. Daniel had kept reminding me that I was asleep, like

Daniel.

…

No response. He must have still been… Well, I wasn’t sure what his psyche needed to do to resurface in my conscious mind. But apparently, he’d been pretty busy learning about my sub conscious.

‘Falling apart’ he’d said. I didn’t like the sound of that. He’d hadn’t disappeared this long before.

It was probably best not to think about the prospect of him not returning at all.

To my surprise, I seemed to be the only one awake. The Nai was still unconscious under a blanket. It had lain down in the corner of the room furthest me. No surprise there.

Tasser was also asleep.

I stood up scanning the room again. Nemuleki had gotten the lights on when we first arrived, but someone must have turned them out while we slept—where was Nemuleki?

All of a sudden, I was wide awake. Had Stalker survived after all? Could it have attacked Nemuleki while they slept?

I doubted Nemuleki would be missing voluntarily. Any nuanced loyalties in play were lost on me, but it seemed unlikely Nemuleki would betray us only hours after saving Tasser and I from Stalker.

Tasser stirred when I prodded them. Watching their huge eyes blink open was so bizarre in person. Tasser gave a surprised start they saw me, but it didn’t linger.

Every minute I spent with the aliens made me acutely aware of how badly I needed to learn more of their language, but for now I knew how to alert Tasser.

“Nemuleki.” I said. It was simple and impossible to misinterpret. Tasser puzzled at me for a few seconds. They did push themselves to their feet, though—favoring the shoulder that hadn’t been stabbed—and found the room did not contain a second Casti.

Tasser, though, did not react in alarm. Instead, they muttered more words I couldn’t comprehend. They sluggishly moved toward the door, poked their head out, and pointed around the corner.

I followed suit and saw Nemuleki standing in the corner of the hallway.

Oh.

They were keeping watch. Duh. They had matching military uniforms. Of course someone would have stayed awake.

Nemuleki asked Tasser, probably something along the lines of ‘what’s happening?’. Tasser responded, and Nemuleki clicked a bit.

It was deep rattling noise, like the buzz of a massive cicada. Was that laughing?

Tasser ducked back into the room and immediately went back to sleep. I followed, but I could tell I wasn’t getting any more sleep. I was too wound up.

There was too much to think about, whatever Daniel was tied up in and what I’d learned surviving against Stalker were only part of it. Every moment since we’d landed on the planet, I’d had distractions to keep me in the moment.

But it was the dead of night right now, and we didn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

I had plenty of time to be alone with my thoughts.

So, I immediately got back on my feet and stood in the hall with Nemuleki. That probably said something about me. That I preferred alien company to no company at all?

It was a prudent strategy to keep myself occupied while we waited for the sun to rise though. Nemuleki didn’t have the same patience Tasser did to puzzle out my gestures and pantomime.

It took hilariously long to communicate that I wanted to look at their map again.

A ‘Thassik’ according to Nemuleki.

I had my own copy, stored inside my brain. But it didn’t have any of the labels the physical copy had. Nemuleki also couldn’t see it, so if I wanted to ask questions, I needed the genuine article.

“Us.” I said, gesturing vaguely. The two of us were in the hall, while Tasser and the Nai were resting in the rec room. I had to motion between our two positions because I couldn’t remember the stupid word. It had been one I’d picked up in passing on our car ride, but I’d forgotten to put the translation in the notebook.

Daniel wouldn’t have forgotten that.

“Us.” I repeated, “Caleb, Tasser, Nemuleki, and the Nai. Here?” I tapped the point on the map where I guessed the mining facility sat.

“Nai. ” Nemuleki corrected. “ La ‘tha Nai’, rei ‘Nai’ .”

‘La’ was short for ‘alala’. That was another of Daniel’s notes. Virtually any abridgement of the word meant ‘no’. So Nemuleki had said… ‘No ‘tha Nai’. Wait, no. Nemuleki had been quoting me back. They were saying ‘no’ in response to me saying ‘the Nai’.

She’d said ‘Not ‘the Nai’… only Nai’. ‘Rei’ must be ‘only’.

“Just ‘Nai’?” I asked. “Nai, ala ten? ”

“Ala ten .” Nemuleki confirmed. It meant ‘no more’.

Okay, so it wasn’t ‘the Nai’, just Nai.

Daniel and I had figured it was a title of some kind. Which wasn’t complete unfeasible, but Nemuleki had been unusually insistent about the wording. Maybe there was some formality Casti had about names?

But they weren’t that formal about their own names, at least Tasser and Nemuleki hadn’t given that impression. Maybe it was a facet of the Nai’s culture.

“Nai.” I said, “What is it? Uhhh… I mean…”

I was still in the habit of saying whatever I meant out loud in English. I’d only been exposed to their language for the better part of two days. I didn’t have much of a vocabulary.

The journal helped though. Once Daniel or I heard something once, we could record it for later study and reference. Which is how I knew that... Nas was the word I wanted.

I’d determined it was a ‘question’ word. As far as I could tell, it meant ‘what’.

I took the moment to add ‘ Rei ’ to the slowly growing list of words we had. I placed it under the ‘moderately confident’ section.

“Nas Nai? ” I asked. I wanted to know what species it was. I’d probably just get another nonsense word, but even having a name for what it was.

“Nas ?” Nemuleki asked.

“Nas .” I repeated. “Caleb; human. Nemuleki; Casti. Tasser; Casti . So what is Nai? Nas Nai? ”

“Kir …” they started, but then thought better of it. “ Farnata .” Nemuleki said.

“Farnata.”

Nemuleki nodded.

Getting back to my original question, I was trying to figure out where we intended to go next. The map was cut vertically into thirds, once by the tallest ridge of mountains to our west, and again by the winding road that still lay east of us.

Appropriately, the color scheme of the map was not ‘Earth’ like. Instead the land was colored a muddy yellow while certain areas were washed violet for dense forest, and mountains were dark triangles. Rivers were still marked in blue though.

Colors withstanding, I was still guessing for most of the map’s meaning like which way was actually ‘east’ and ‘west’. For all I knew, the map could be upside down. It had small labels on the towns and roads, but I didn’t know if those letters were upside down or not either.

Oh shoot , that was a priority; I needed to learn whatever alphabet these words used. That would be a critical step to improving communication.

Shelving that goal for now, I pointed at the mining facility on the map and traced my way down the connecting road toward the winding highway. I stopped once I reached the intersection and looked up at Nemuleki for prompting.

“Which way?”

“Etesi .” Nemuleki said and pointed me north. They moved further until another intersection in the road took them further east, off the page of the map.

“Us.” I said again, indicating all of us, and then I retraced the route Nemuleki had shown.

They nodded.

Okay. Seems like that’s going to be our route now. It made sense. Looking at the spot where we’d abandoned the road and hiked over the mountain, we could have continued on the same road to reach the winding highway just south of where the mining facility’s road would meet the same highway.

So why had we abandoned the road if we were just going to continue on the route we’d been diverted from?

I would have plenty of time to puzzle it out while we hiked. Did Casti have a concept of hitchhiking?

Thinking of other concepts… there was one word, more than the rest, I wanted to know.

I pointed to myself again, “Caleb,” and pointed toward where ‘just Nai’ slept, “Nai,”

Nemuleki nodded patiently, seeing where I was going. I held up my hand and concentrated for a brief moment.

An endless cluster of microscopic suns flashed between my fingers and each one fit themselves into the simple pattern I envisioned.

It still took a tremendous effort, but I didn’t feel so overwhelmed by it now. The moment passed and I was left with a small mysterious shard, faintly tinted green.

I held it up for Nemuleki.

“Nas? ” I asked.

“Caylob… vit Nai? ” Nemuleki pointed out the window into the dark morning (by now it had to be technically morning, right?) and added “ Vorak? ”

Vorak. The name for the alien otters. I shivered at the word. I didn’t want to use it. It was easier thinking of them as otters.

“Vorak.” I nodded. “Caleb, Nai, the Vorak, Nas ?” I asked, holding up the shard again.

“Enumius .” Nemuleki said. I smiled. They had come around more to the single word method of communication Tasser and I had increasingly depended on.

“Enumius .” I repeated. Nemuleki nodded again. I was learning a ton of words this morning. This was great! Having an actual word got me wondering if this was a special term created to describe the ability, or if it was an existing word that had been adapted. Daniel and I had adapted a catch-all buzzword in the form of ‘empowered’. It would be hard to break that habit in favor of the actual term.

“Nai, Enumius ?” I asked.

Another nod.

“Vorak, Enumius ?” I asked.

A slower nod, with a wobbly hand gesture. Maybe it was ‘some’?

“Farnata, Enumius ?”

Another nod with the wobbly hand. ‘Some’ again. Okay.

“Tasser, Nemuleki, Enumius ?”

I was pretty sure I already knew the answer to this, because I couldn’t sense them with the mental space I deployed around me. But I wanted to confirm.

Nemuleki said, “Ala. Alala Casti mo Enumius. ”

No Casti? No Casti was empowered?

“Alala ? Zero?” I asked.

Nemuleki nodded once more.

I felt like I’d known these two weren’t capable of these ‘Enumius’ abilities, but it was still surprising to hear. The possibility remained I had misinterpreted entirely, but I felt confident we’d been on the same page.

I had more questions, like ‘why can I feel ‘Enumius’ aliens with my brain? How much could I use the abilities until my body started breaking down, like Nai’s? Were my and Daniel’s abilities somehow responsible for his mind becoming tangled up in mine? That last one especially struck me. There was a clear recurring theme with all the empowered aliens we’d come across, they all involved creation . It was a trend I’d seen early, but the more and more exposure I had to these abilities, the more the trend was reinforced.

But whatever was going on in my head seemed to present differently. It couldn’t possibly be unrelated, could it? It would have to be an enormous coincidence, but the truth was I didn’t have any evidence one way or another. Being in the dark was an old feeling by now. By every time I learned even the slightest bit more, I only ended up more lost.

Feeling that way didn’t make me want to step backward though. I’d pulled the wool off my eyes and accepted where I was. There was no going back, no matter how much easier it had felt.

It was the lack of certainty that was killing me. I just had no way to know what even the next hour would be. I kept getting surprised at every turn, and I was sick of it.

That said, not all the surprises were turning out sour.

Nemuleki continually defied expectations, this morning. They’d had little patience for me when we’d interacted back in the blackout-house (I couldn’t really call it a greenhouse, now could I?). After yesterday’s events though, Nemuleki had thawed somewhat.

They were still wary, giving small starts when I made a motion they hadn’t anticipated, or tensing up if I was within arm’s reach. But they’d kept their pistol strapped to their chest the whole time we’d interacted.

It would be a few hours more, but since Stalker hadn’t carried a gun, it might have been a whole day since someone thought about shooting me.

Wait … no , I seemed to remember Nemuleki and ‘just Nai’ nervously aiming my direction when I’d first sensed Stalker hiding in the abandoned village.

Still, a new day couldn’t be more than an hour away. I was eager to see some sunlight again. As breathtaking as some of the night sights had been, I was finding alien planets much less terrifying during the day.

When time came for the sun to rise though, I got a rude reminder of how unfamiliar I was with the planet.

The first light started creeping in through the hallway windows, and I found myself looking out at the mountainside as it slowly brightened.

It was covered in snow.

I liked to ski in the winter. It was a good counterpart to baseball’s offseason. So i wasn’t unfamiliar with heavy snowfall.

Still, this was unbelievable.

I couldn’t even begin to guess how much was already on the ground. Every inch was simply engulfed so that I had no frame of reference. It was at least a foot, no more than a foot.

It was still coming down too!

Swirls cut through the air scattering white powder everywhere. The snow built up on the windward side of the trees, but they were all still buried all the way around.

Several things clicked into place. We hadn’t just been hiking to try and avoid Stalker, we’d been looking for shelter. There was no way my alien chaperones hadn’t known the weather could do this.

This is why the village was abandoned , I realized. Nobody wanted to be stuck in a cabin that size when the weather could literally bury you alive. They must have all withdrawn to the first, larger, town we passed through.

It’s why this place is empty too!

We’d needed to break through locks to enter practically every building. These places were locked down tight . How long did they expect to be gone? Depending on how long it snowed like this, the mining facility could be unreachable for weeks.

Wait, how long would we be here then? I only had three or four more protein blocks, and each one of those was good for about one meal. In the room we’d commandeered, there was a water tap like the one Tasser had shown me before. So I was fine for water as long as we stayed, but food would be an issue.

I’m sure Daniel could tell me more of the precise bioscience, but for the same reason I didn’t have to worry about alien viruses, wouldn’t alien food be equally incompatible?

That concern was quickly going to get more pressing.

The snow came down harder and the day proved to be more and more overcast as dawn arrived. Nemuleki and I lounged in the hall while the other two aliens slept. We didn’t have too much to say, but it was time during which no one tried to kill me, so in context, it was a pleasant experience.

I retrieved a stiff rubber ball, for lacrosse I was pretty sure, from my backpack and tossed it against one of the walls for diversion. Nemuleki watched, but they also split their attention between the intersecting hallway and the window overlooking the mining facility’s yard. They were keeping a vigilant watch. Even though we’d neutralized Stalker, they were still watchful in case another enemy approached.

I tossed the ball to Nemuleki a few times, just to see what they’d do with it. One look and I could tell ‘throwing’ wasn’t a Casti skill. Shame too. They had absolutely colossal fingers and hands compared to mine. Their grip on a ball would let them impart unbelievable spin. Then again, the raw size might make the same grip clumsy.

Still, Nemuleki was a good sport about it and bounced the ball off the odd corner where it went rolling away.

That was how I spent my morning. Counting the minutes and bouncing a ball off the walls.

Patience is a virtue.

I unwrapped one of my protein blocks and forced myself to chew through it. It was still as unappetizing as the first time I’d tried it. I had plenty of water to wash it down though. Alien faucets seemed to be standardized on this planet.

The lights flickered a bit, and Tasser stirred inside the breakroom.

They mumbled something to Nemuleki in the hallway. Nemuleki responded and ducked down the hall out of sight. Their footsteps were tapping away when I started thinking about what materials had been used to construct this building. None of the floors were wood, though the grey panels were patterned to be similar to the grey tones of the tree trunks outside.

The glass and most other building materials seemed ordinary and something I hadn’t noticed on my trip in was that some sections of the hall actually had carpet. It struck me so oddly, I actually made a note of it in the mental journal. How much sci-fi had ever featured aliens with carpet?

I was thinking about how eerily it reminded me of home when I was interrupted.

From the hallway, we heard a shout from Nemuleki immediately cut off by an explosive crack.

Tasser was upright in an instant and they burst out the door. Nai was more sluggish, taking a few unsteady moments to get up. Though, it seemed no less alert.

I rushed after Tasser and saw Nemuleki slumped into the corner of the hallway. Black scorch marks caked the wall around the corner. There were a few smears of orange blood, and for a second my mind went back to the moments after we’d first landed on the planet. When the fourth Casti’s head had caught a bullet.

But Nemuleki was still conscious, holding their gun, and angry . At least, anger was the only way I could interpret the string of furious words they were hissing under their breath. Tasser beckoned for my help, and we picked up Nemuleki by the arms and got them back inside the room.

Nai vacated the large towel-like mat it had been lying on, and we set Nemuleki down. What had happened?

Tasser and Nai were alarmed, but they didn’t seem to be wary for a follow up attack. What if this wasn’t actually an attack? Did things just explode sometimes in alien mines? Actually, things exploded even in human mines, so that wasn’t the best comparison.

I wasn’t quite content to trust their judgement though and I cast my mental sense outward. I should have been using it continuously, but it took effort to deploy and sustain. And I hadn’t remembered it existed when I first woke up.

My radar was frustratingly incapable of detecting anything but the position and distance of empowered aliens. I couldn’t actually see through the walls to look, but I detected no Enumius aliens, save for Nai. No enemy then?

Except… the memory of my ill-conceived escape attempt came to mind. For a certain moment, I’d felt more threatened by the ordinary Vorak because I couldn’t sense them. They’d been impossible to outmaneuver.

I tried to figure out why Nai and Tasser were being so docile, and a hundred other explanations came to mind. Maybe whatever exploded had been a security feature intended to sabotage people exactly like us—trespassers. Buildings abandoned like this would be vulnerable to someone trying to break in.

No. That wasn’t right. Explosive countermeasures against burglars were counterproductive.

This was an attack.

Daniel needed to get his sorry ghost back here. I had no idea—I stopped as I caught another glimpse out the window.

…I had no idea how we’d missed that. Out in the yard, half buried in snow, there was a Vorak standing brazenly out in the open a few feet beyond the road gate. My teeth clenched. My own anger caught me unprepared.

We’d just finished fending off Stalker for hours on a freezing mountain almost completely in the dark. All of us were wounded or debilitated in some way. But we weren’t done yet.

Stalker must have called a friend.